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Human Resource professionals who embrace new tech trends using them as resources in their roles... [+] increase their ability to create millennial-proof cultures.

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As the largest generation in the workforce, millennials are turning the workplace upside down and requiring human resources to redefine their role. Technology plays an important part more than ever and it’s changing the type of people hired and how they’re recruited.

The future of HR is now. The longer HR prolongs adapting to these trends the more severe the impact will be to the overall culture of the company. Instead of fearing technology and automation taking their jobs, HR should fear complacency and the inability to use technology as a resource to strengthen their role.

Here are four easy and realistic ways companies can millennial-proof their HR strategy

The idea of technology taking over business has been decades in the making. Yet, companies still struggle to adapt to the changing phenomenon. This lack of preparedness is negatively impacting businesses and employee and candidate experiences.

Last year, two recruiting platforms, SmartRecruiters and Ideal took the lead with AI and automation forming a partnership utilizing Ideal’s AI technology and SmartRecruiters recruiting platform. Together, they created a seamless plan to automate hiring processes that lead to improved HR functions and overall candidate experiences.

Since implementing the Ideal AI technology into the SmartRecruiters platform, recruiter productivity increased by 3.7 times, cost-per-hires reduced by 71% and the number of qualified candidates tripled. These two companies worked together to embrace the growing demand of technology creating a strategy to deliver the best experience for their customers.

Incorporate Technology into Working Styles

As the baby boomers make their exit and the new era of workers take over the workplace, new working styles and values are coming with them. These new working styles are driven primarily by technology. Today’s workers are eager to stay on top of new tech trends to produce quality output in their work. According to PwC, millennials expect employers to expand internal communication channels to include instant messaging, group chats, video networking and blogs.

If companies want to remain competitive in their industry they have to acknowledge and adapt to the needs of the new generation and prioritize innovation. Keeping outdated technology hurts companies more than it helps. HR should take the lead in promoting the importance of reliable and updated tech and equipment for their employees.

Millennials are a tech-dependent generation who crave purpose in their work and the most cutting edge tools to help them be successful. Without these tools, they feel limited in their ability to achieve their purpose leading to more disengaged teams.

Relax the Formalities and Building Personal Relationships

HR has since recognized in order to retain top talent they must break down the hierarchies and develop deeper connections with their employees. The best way to achieve this is opening lines of communication and being reciprocal with feedback. This helps to strengthen the manager and employee relationship while helping one another to improve on a professional and personal level.

The future of HR focuses onbuilding and nurturing relationships with employeesto bring everyone together. They play a significant role in encouraging employee engagement. Once known as “Human Resources”, HR is adopting a “Human Relationships” mentality that allows them to balance professionalism with friendliness.

The new generation of workers desire a work-life blend over a work-life balance. They want a company to support their goals, advocate for causes and embody a “we” mentality. This means relaxing the stiff corporate formalities and extreme emphasis on hierarchy and roles and creating more human to human interaction.

As the face of the company, they create a long lasting first impression that determines whether candidates move forward with the hiring process or end it altogether. Age-old HR roles stayed true to creating distance between themselves and the employees. This led to employees feeling alienated and believing the HR department had no true investment in them beyond recruitment.

Spotlight Ways to Invest in Personal Growth

Up until recently, employers dominated the working relationship that neglected the employees needs focusing only on the overall company benefit. As prior generations settled for pay increases, the new generations are speaking up and demanding companies to invest in and value their personal growth. The consequence of them not doing so is losing their best employees. The candidate driven market leaves little room for employers to fight back forcing them to adapt or lose top talent.

A study by Manpower founda third of the workforce will be made up of millennials by the year 2020. Less than a year away, companies and human resource professionals should have a clearly outlined strategy to help millennials excel at work. Successful strategies are centered around reciprocal feedback, ample learning opportunities, nurturing genuine relationships and using technology as a resource to streamline processes and increase productivity.

I'm a Leadership Coach & Workplace Culture Consultant at Heidi Lynne Consulting helping individuals and organizations gain the confidence to become better leaders for themselves and their teams. As a consultant, I deliver and implement strategies to develop current talent and create impactful and engaging employee experiences. Companies hire me to to speak, coach, consult and train their teams and organizations of all sizes. I've gained a breadth of knowledge working internationally in Europe, America and Asia. I use my global expertise to provide virtual and in-person consulting and leadership coaching to the students at Babson College, Ivy League students and my global network. I'm a black belt in Six Sigma, former Society of Human Resources (SHRM) President and domestic violence mentor. Learn more at www.heidilynneco.com or get in touch at Heidi@heidilynneco.com.